The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter #145

Arthur Engoron
April 12, 2024

Dear Wheatley Wildcats and Other Interested Persons,

Welcome to The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 145.

According to Substack, in the first 24 hours after publication, Newsletter # 144 was viewed 2,807 times, was “liked” 13 times, and received one comment. In all, 4,739 email addresses received Newsletter # 144. For all of March, Wheatley Newsletters were accessed approximately 13,400 times.

All underlined text is a link-to-a-link (or, occasionally, an email address). Clicking anywhere on underlined text, and then clicking on the link that pops up, will get you to your on-line destination (or address an email).

The Usual Words of Wisdom

Thanks to our fabulous Webmaster, Keith Aufhauser (Class of 1963), you can regale yourself with the first 144 Newsletters (and much other Wheatley data and arcana) at

Wheatley School Alumni Association Website

Also, thanks to Keith is our search engine, prominently displayed on our home page: type in a word or phrase and, wow!, you’ll find every place it exists in all previous Newsletters and other on-site material. I use it frequently; it works usually!

I edit all submissions, even material in quotes, for clarity and concision, without any indication thereof. I cannot and do not vouch for the accuracy of what people tell me, as TWSAA does not have a fact-checking department.

We welcome any and all text and photos relevant to The Wheatley School, 11 Bacon Road, Old Westbury, NY 11568, and the people who administered, taught, worked, and/or studied there. Art Engoron, Class of 1967

Concert by Wheatley Graduate - TODAY

Takemi Ueno '83 will perform with the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra on Fri., Apr. 12, at 8 pm, at Symphony Space (Broadway & 95^th St. in Manhattan). The orchestra will play Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 and Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 ("Eroica"). Tickets for students and seniors are $23. Normally, regular tickets are $30, but you can get them for $25 until 3 pm the day of the concert at the orchestra's website (https://nasorch.org/advance-ticket-sales/).

Free Concert by Wheatley Graduate

Saturday, May 18, 2024 at 2 PM

Afternoon Mojito

DAVID HEUSER
JOSE LEZCANO
MAX LIFCHITZ
SHELI NAN (our very own Shelley Nan Hershcopf, 1968)

Concerto Grosso
Mojito Concerto
Four Tango Sketches
Backlash

Jose Lezcano, guitar
Max Lifchitz, conductor
The North/South Chamber Orchestra

This concert is at:
St. John’s in The Village
218 W 11th St; New York, NY 10011

San Francisco Bay Area Wheatley Reunion

The Third Annual (?) Unofficial San Francisco Bay Area Wheatley Reunion
Potluck—TTA(?)USFBAWRP-- will be held Sunday May 26, 2024, 12:30 - 4:00, in
my Berkeley back yard. Already planning to attend are Peter Siegel (’66), Roy
Nierenberg (’63), Barry Gordon (’65), and Rich Weissman (‘72.) Interested
Wildcats, please email me at larros99@gmail.com. Larry Rosenthal (1965)

‘Hood History

Writes Matt Sanzone (1959) - “My classmate, Beth Davidson, is right about the French fries at Super Drug.”

CORRECTED Partial List of Wildcats at Carnegie Tech/Carnegie Mellon (sorry for the earlier errors of inclusion and exclusion)

Judkoff Popolow, Patricia 1958 (Deceased)

Jalonack Blum, Carol 1961

Brautigam Carter, Betsy 1965

Gordon, Barry 1965

Levine, Andrea 1965 (Deceaed)

Orling, Jeffrey 1965

Bregman, Judy 1967

Janowitz, Ken 1967

Summers, Andy 1967

Bernstein, Alan 1968

Fromm, Mark 1969

Goldsmith, Bruce 1970

Oppenheim Darrah, Judith 1972

Struhl, Cliff 1974 (“Great school. Loved Pittsburgh”)

Tibrewala, Neal 1994

Jain, Arihant 2016

Graduates

1964 - Gary Briefel - Life at and after Wheatley

Writes Gary - “Nearly 60 years have passed since graduation. I can’t remember what I did last week, but the memories about Wheatley are still fresh. Our family moved to Percheron Lane in 1950. My father bought his house for 19K and eventually sold it for close to a million. When we first moved in, there were no telephones. My mother communicated with her friend Lotti Gerard by writing notes and had me run to her house with the message. It was easy then, because there were no shrubs or fences. Steve (1964) and Andy (1966) Simmons lived two houses away, and Jimmy Lerner (1964) lived further up the street. We have remained lifelong friends. The community has since changed physically so much that it is practically unrecognizable.

I started elementary school at North Side but moved mid-year to the newly completed Willets Road School. My days at Wheatley began with either band or orchestra practice with Mr. Pearson or Mr. Signorelli. The band played concerts at Jones Beach and at the 1964-1965 World’s Fair. We also played at football games and marched in the annual East Williston Memorial Day Parade.

The teachers who stood out most in my memory include Mrs. Feindler (French), Mr. McCormack (math) and Mrs. Auerbach (English). My mother, Liliana (who taught Italian and French at Wheatley) and Mrs. Auerbach became good friends. In later years, when we got together, I would commiserate with Mrs. Auerbach about the atrocious grammar and spelling in the medical student write-ups that I had to evaluate.

Our high school years coincided with the civil rights movement, the Bay of Pigs fiasco (I wrote a thesis on the topic for Mrs. Bodnar), the Beatles and the Vietnam War. In 1962, during the height of the Cuban missile crisis, I went to Gene Grindlinger’s (1964) house to study for a physics exam. As I remember it, we decided that there was no point in studying as the world was about to end, so we went to Carvel’s for ice cream instead. There was the infamous controversy over saying (or not saying) the Pledge of Allegiance every morning and the bomb scares (probably related). One day, news trucks pulled up to the school and reporters wanted to know the names of students refusing to say the Pledge. The Principal, WalterWathey, refused and kicked them out. Of course, all of us who were at Wheatley during that period remember the assembly on November 22, 1963, when we were informed that Kennedy had died.

In the Fall I played soccer. At the beginning of our senior season, Coach Bill Stevenson took us to observe the team from Oceanside as an example of good high school soccer. That year we had a great team. Jimmy Jerome (1964) was in goal, Jimmy Lerner (1964) and Ward Seibert (1965) were fullbacks (we played with only two in those days). Marc Messing (1965) anchored the midfield and George Glazer (1965) and Ken Yagoda (1965) provided most of the scoring. We won our division by beating perennial champs North Shore 3-0. The team eventually advanced to the finals to play, as you might have guessed, Oceanside. We lost (1-0) on a penalty kick in the final minutes, because of a controversial hand ball call (I am sure that the call would have been overturned by VAR, Video Assistant Referee).

In the Spring I played baseball. The highlight of my season came in my final at bat of our last game, against Locust Valley. I led off in the last inning of a tie game with a single to left field to get my average over 300. Coach Jack Davis gave me the steal sign with Fred Gipp at bat. He hit a grounder to the short stop, who saw he had no play at second. As he started to throw to first, I continued running. When I slid into third, I saw that the throw from the first baseman went off the third baseman’s glove and I got up and scored the winning run. The senior prom was that night, so after the game a group of us were given permission to drive back to school but were stopped for speeding. Fortunately, Cliff Montgomery’s mother who was behind us saw what was happening and persuaded the policeman from giving us a ticket.

After graduation, I went to the U. of Rochester, where I met Ellen, who I later married. I then attended Boston University Medical School and went on to become a nephrologist. I practiced in Baltimore at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center for over 30 years before returning to Brooklyn in 2009 to finish my career at Kings County Hospital/Downstate, where I had previously done my residency and fellowship training. I now live in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. I have two sons, Josh and David, and a beautiful granddaughter, Abigail. I have recently retired, but still play softball and golf, and as a hobby am learning to play the flute. On a sadder note, my brother Dennis (Class of 1969) died several years ago from pancreatic cancer.

I still get together with Steve and Jimmy to play golf and discuss politics. Jimmy and I usually attend the annual Simmons teachers’ award ceremony. Steve speaks about what made Wheatley special for himself and the rest of the class. Then awards are given to three teachers from each of the schools in the district selected by their peers. It is wonderful to hear from them why teaching in the school district is so special. It appears that the tradition of excellent teaching continues.”

1965 - Jeffrey Orling - Architecture at Carnegie Tech/Carnegie Mellon University

Writes Jeff - “I recall deciding to which colleges to apply My main concern was that I could be in an architecture program, as I wanted to become an architect. Many do a liberal arts degree and a post grad architecture program. Also, I wanted to be reasonably close to NY and at a school in a city. Carnegie Tech, which became Carnegie Mellon University, checked off all the boxes. Architecture was in the fine arts building, along with music, painting, sculpture and drama. We shared some courses with those in the arts programs like History of Arts and Civilization. CMU had a lovely campus; it was next to gorgeous Schenley Park and up the road a bit from U of Pittsburgh. We were about 20 minutes from the "golden triangle"--- downtown. I had some wonderful profs and met very interesting people from all over the US.….but mostly from NY and PA. It was an eight-hour drive from the NYC metro area, and I did it many times, as well as flew. We could get student airfares which were approximately $20 or less one way. As soon as I could, I moved from the dorm to an apartment within a long-walking distance from the Arts School. I lived in the ‘village’ of Pittsburgh called “Shadyside”.….nothing like the ‘village’ of NYC. Pittsburgh had a fabulous museum and benefited from the gifts of robber barons like Melon and Scaife. For me, it was a great place to get my professional education. I liked architecture being in the Fine Arts building, as opposed to being in the engineering building. These were probably the best years of my life. I won a design competition and the prize was money for travel to Europe. How cool was that?! I was in touch with my roommates after graduation... one roommate lived near me in Bronxville. He was my best friend and got me interested in sailing. This was probably the best thing I did with my life - sail. Sadly, he has passed. The other moved out to CA. CMU was a great choice. They had a great drama department, too. I have only been back once, years ago. I don't remember which guidance counselor ‘guided’ me, but it was good advice. College = best years! Jeff - 914.494.4706 cell”

1965 - Robert Stern - “So much has changed in the communities that sent us to Wheatley. Memories of the stores around the Albertson LIRR Station make what has happened to the area (particularly the Roslyn Country Club pools and tennis courts) utterly tragic. I remember how classmate Cliff Montgomery and I hung out at those courts developing our games — his tennis soon far exceeded mine! Now, in the midst of the Roslyn Heights McMansions, there is a disgracefully derelict asset gone to waste. Ah, well….”

1967 - Nechama (“Nan”) Maslow Tarlow and Carl Thomas Wirth - Celestial Bodies

Writes Carl - The real reason the world was so excited on Monday, April 8, 2024, aside from the solar eclipse, is that classmate Nechama (“Nan”) Maslow Tarlow and I celebrated our 75th birthdays. Nan and I sat together at our class’s 50^th-Year reunion, remarking that we must be the oddest set of twins to have attended Wheatley.”

Writes Andrea - “Rich Weissman (‘72); his husband, J.D. Horn; and I recently spent a glorious few hours in Palm Springs, CA. Nothing was pre-planned; I had a few hours and shot Rich a text. They are such a lovely and gracious couple. Not pictured and picture credit go to my sister-in-law, Marilou Carlin.”

1970 - Jack Riefberg - “Patsy’s Italian Restaurant on West 56th Street was Frank Sinatra’s favorite restaurant. Old Blue Eyes and I share a birthday.”

1974 - John Clemente -”I've been in constant communication with my Wheatley buddies, Class of 1974, for fifty years. Roger Boccio, John Mosca, Frank Russo Labriola, Glenn Hogan, William LiPera, and Vinnie Pagano. I'm a blessed man to have met such fine lifelong friends. Sending love and respect to all my fellow Wildcats.”

1974 - Bill Meyn - “Squashing pennies on the LIRR tracks appears to be a shared experience across generations and locations. Is the ‘third rail’ legend also universal? “If you touch the third rail there won't be enough left of you to carry home in a paper bag.” This warning was effective. We never tested it, I imagine that Grimm's fairy tales were once meaningful cautionary tales. There really were big bad wolves in the woods in rural Germany,”

Writes Andy = “Please join an upcoming zoom book talk on my new novel, Bright College Years! Aspirationally the quintessential campus novel—set in 1980s Yale but aiming to capture the timeless college experience—by turns smart, funny, and heart-wrenching (so says the blurb), Bright College Years tracks an ensemble cast as they navigate the shortest, gladdest, most complex years of life—and then the rest of it. Coming of age, as the awesome tag line has it, doesn’t only happen to the young.

For those who’ve read the book, this will be a chance to discuss it. For those who haven’t but planned to, now’s a good time to acquire a copy! For those on the fence, come find out more. For the skeptics, cynics, nay-sayers, and nemeses? Come and heckle!

For more information about the book and loads of endorsements, please visit https://andrewpessin.com/bright-college-years/. (Signed copies are available directly from the author if interested.)

It was almost 30 years ago. I was hosting the Wheatley Senior Prom at the Pierre Hotel in NYC with these four extraordinary young people, my Senior Class officers, left to right, Adar Kaplan, Liz Monaghan, Gail Magpantay, Beth Fingerman, and David Kim … when a student approached me and asked if I’d heard the news.

“It’s O.J.” he answered. “It’s all over the news. Right now, cop cars and helicopters are chasing him on the California freeway. It’s a circus. And, he has a gun.”

They were wise beyond their years. They were leaders. And, I was so proud of all they had accomplished for their classmates.

Fan Mail

1964 (John Sullivan) - “Thanks for the last newsletter – I used to love to go to Patsy’s Italian Restaurant– a great place.”

1965 (Malcolm McNeill) - “Good pic of you climbing the rock wall, Art. You gotta stay in shape!”

1965 (Jeffrey Orling) - “Thanks, Art.….always a hoot to read about the ‘hood. This is a great service to the school and to the Wildcats.”

1965 (Bob Stern) - “I enjoy the Newsletter! Thanks for all you do to keep the fantastic Wheatley memories and friendships alive.”

1967 (Jane Colchamiro Schlanger) - “Art, thank you for including my comments about Super Drug and for your hard work!”

1974 (John Clemente) - “I appreciate you, Arthur. Thank you for starting and keeping the newsletter alive.”

1985 (Martin Rosenburgh) - “Thank you very much for your Newsletter - it is really great to receive a frequent reminder of my Wheatley days and see the breadth of the community.”

Closing

That’s it for The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 145. Please send me your autobiography before someone else sends me your obituary.